The Old Dog's New Trick
by Lasrevinu
Summary: GSR Grissom comes home from his sabbatical.


Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.

Rating: T

Summary: GSR Grissom comes home from his sabbatical.

Spoilers: Really mild for _Law of Gravity_.

A/N: This is never, ever going to happen. Fluff city, man. Big thanks to **TN**!

**The Old Dog's New Trick**

She was, to say the least, avoiding him. Too busy to have a chat, too dirty from searching for evidence in a landfill to step out for a bite to eat with him, and too annoyed to crack a smile. He was well aware she couldn't leap into his arms and shove her tongue down his throat while they were at work, but a little invasion of his personal space wouldn't have been at all unwelcome.

It had, after all, been a month. Four full weeks of sleeping alone, of eating by himself, of getting reacquainted with his right hand. When he had decided to accept the invitation to teach at Williams, Grissom severely underestimated just how bad thirty days of celibacy would be. He had literally spent years without any physical intimacy. Four weeks should've been a piece of cake. A walk in the park.

How wrong he was.

It wasn't like they had sex every single day. He was fifty, for crying out loud. And they worked hellacious hours. But for a year and three months, Grissom had gotten used to getting laid on a regular basis. He had gotten used to blowjobs, to feeling her up on the couch when they pretended to watch the news. Now, as she begged off so she could clean up, all he wanted to do was chase her down and hug her. He hadn't hugged her in four weeks, and his arms felt painfully empty.

It was a wonder how he'd gone all those years without holding her.

Grissom sulked all the way to the local diner. He didn't feel like being in the building when he knew they couldn't have a proper reunion. He plopped down in a booth and stared at the menu in front of him. The vinyl cushion on the opposite bench made a squishing noise as it met someone's rear, and Grissom quickly looked up with a smile, expecting his love -- all scrubbed clean and smelling sweet -- to meet his gaze, grinning back at him.

Oh, he got a grin, alright. "I thought you'd be here."

Grissom's face fell. "Hodges."

"You have no idea how good it is to have you back," the lab tech gushed before turning to a nearby waitress. "Hey, can I get a menu here?" Hodges faced Grissom again, eyes crazy and wide with excitement. "That Keppler guy? Hack. Total and complete hack. He's got nothing on you."

"Uh, thanks?"

Hodges opened his mouth to speak, but the waitress sidled up to the booth, pad in hand. "What'll ya have?"

Something that didn't require a timely preparation. "Salad," Grissom said quickly. "House dressing."

"Anything to drink?"

He glanced at the complimentary water already on the table. "This is fine."

The waitress turned to Hodges. "I will have…the same. That sounds good." The waitress left and he smiled widely at Grissom. "Heart healthy, huh? Never can be too careful. My cholesterol is excellent, by the way. One-sixty."

Grissom pressed his lips together. How long did it take to make a damn salad?

"So…how was Massachusetts?" Hodges asked conspiratorially, his Cheshire grin spread wide across his face. "Did you order the Purple Pint?"

"You know, I didn't have time. I was kind of busy." Masturbating.

"Ah, understandable. Understandable. The inquiring minds at the university probably occupied all of your time. Did you get to wear the sweatshirt?"

"Sweatshirt?"

"The one I got for you."

"Right," Grissom nodded. "All the time." Not once. Like he was going to drag his middle-aged ass around Massachusetts in a bright purple sweatshirt.

Hodges leaned forward on his elbows. "Did you enjoy teaching?"

Grissom took a sip of his water. "Yes. Very much."

"Is it something you see yourself doing in the future? I only ask because it'd be a travesty if you left the lab," Hodges blurted out. "I mean, Catherine? Leading the nightshift? It was a joke. I don't want to even go into the whole reverse forensics situation. What a mess. Keppler is one-hundred percent untrustworthy. The guy has creep written all over him. He wears suits! To crime scenes!"

Grissom raised his eyebrows. "I, uh…haven't made any decisions for the future."

"Okay," Hodges exhaled, obviously relived. "Okay. I didn't mean to scare you with all of that. But I thought you should know how it all went down while you were gone. I, of course, maintained my professionalism."

"Of course."

"I could see how you'd want a change, though," he said, sitting back, stroking his chin. "I mean, the people here…they're not on the same level as us. They're just so…I don't know. They're lacking. I mean, Greg -- he's a kid. Nick and Warrick? The waters don't run deep there, if you catch my drift. And Catherine? Oy. If she hits on me one more time, I'm going to have to have a talk with HR. The woman has eyes for me, I'm telling you."

"Does she?"

"Oh yeah," Hodges nodded.

Grissom cleared his throat and focused on his place setting, trying hard not to laugh at the lab tech's supreme confidence.

"And then there's Sara…"

Eyes wide, Grissom looked up. "What about her?"

"Well, at first I thought she was a bit of a pain in the ass. But I'm kind of starting to like her."

"Oh?"

"You know, _like her _like her. She's got this way about her," Hodges said dreamily. "She's no-nonsense. I get so tired of the typical Vegas girls with their fake hair and fake nails and fake…you know. Sometimes, a guy just wants the real thing. Sara is definitely the real thing. Plus, we'd have really smart children."

"Hmm?" Grissom squeaked.

"And she could always have her teeth capped."

Grissom worked his jaw, staring at his employee as the waitress set his salad in front of him.

Hodges happily dug in and Grissom enjoyed the next several minutes of blessed silence.

"So, you've been eating a lot of salads lately, huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"I've noticed whenever we put out group orders for food, you're always getting veggies. You on a health kick or something?"

Grissom pursed his lips as he twirled the fork in his hand. "My girlfriend's a vegetarian. Which pretty much makes me a vegetarian."

Hodges blinked. "You're seeing someone?"

"Yes," Grissom answered evenly before eating his last cucumber.

"Oh. That's great. Great," Hodges smiled. "Hey, maybe we can double date sometime. Me and Sara, you and your girlfriend."

Grissom sighed as he got his wallet and pulled out enough bills to cover the meal and the tip. He placed the money on the table and stood up. "That might prove to be difficult."

"Why?" Hodges asked.

"Because we'd be one person short."

He left the diner oddly proud of himself, though he knew he should be terrified. He had just told the office gossip about his up-until-then super secret relationship with Sara. There wouldn't be any professional fallout. If his value to the lab hadn't been obvious to the higher ups before he left, they knew it now. They'd leave his girlfriend alone. That, he was sure of.

No, Grissom wasn't afraid of Ecklie.

The object of his fear -- and his desire -- was currently in front of her locker, pulling on her jacket quickly, as if to make a hasty exit.

"Leaving so soon?"

She jumped, startled. "Uh, yeah. Long day -- er, um, night. Long night. Tired." Sara kept her eyes on the floor.

"I'll come with you."

When she looked like she was about to refuse, he held up a hand. "You can't avoid me forever. You can certainly try. But…"

"Fine. Meet me at my apartment."

"You'll have to drive me. I took a cab straight from the airport."

They left the locker room and Sara turned toward the elevator. "I'll meet you in the parking lot. I have to get my suitcase. It's in my office." Grissom quickly retrieved his bag, praying for no interruptions as he rolled it through the lab and into the elevator. He found Sara sitting in her car, the lights on, her face eerily blank. She popped the trunk open without giving him a glance. After he was done depositing his suitcase in the trunk, he climbed into the passenger's seat. "Before we go, can I just say something?"

She shrugged.

"You've been in Las Vegas for seven years. And a good portion of those years have been…emotionally trying for you. I know that. You came to Vegas because I asked you to, and you stuck around. Sara, I…please look at me, honey." She just tightened her grip on the steering wheel. He sighed. "Sara, I know what it's like to not be with you -- to know you're right there, at the other side of the lab, or at a nearby crime scene, or sitting in your apartment while I was at my house…I know what it's like when you're at arm's length from me. I had that. For years. And for the first time since we became a couple -- for the first time in over a year -- I can feel it again. And, Sara, it scares me."

"You chose to go."

"I know," he moaned, squeezing his eyes shut to ward off a migraine. "I know. I get that stupid request to do winter semesters every year. Every single year."

She finally turned her head to look at him. She was livid. "Every year?"

"Yes."

"So…you finally choose to take a break -- from work, you claim -- when you're in a relationship with me? You couldn't go off and teach during one of the winters when you were keeping me at an arm's length?"

"You don't understand…I couldn't go because I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"That you'd be gone when I got back," he admitted.

Her face fell and she stared straight ahead at the parking lot.

Grissom watched her as he continued. "I always knew you were a breath away from leaving. So I never went. I knew I couldn't handle it if I got back and you were gone. I'd have to chase you down and by then it might be too late. Before you got here, I used to go on sabbaticals all the time. I'd spend months in other cities, other countries. But since you arrived…I haven't spent more than a weekend away."

"Until now."

"Until now. I guess I thought…well…I guess I felt you'd be here when I got back. I felt that I'd be able to come home to you…_really _come home to you. Not just to see you in the lab, but…I don't even know what I'm trying to say anymore. If it helps," he sighed, "I found out I don't like being away from you. I can't sleep unless I'm holding on to you. There was no one to talk to."

She pressed her lips together and looked down at her hands in her lap.

"I thought I liked solitude, but I realized I only like it with you," he said, reaching out and linking fingers with her. "I'm still learning, Sara. Relationships -- the idea of being in one is foreign to me. It's a new language, and I'm old and it's going to take a while before I'm fluent."

"I'm not exactly fluent, either," she said, her voice watery with unshed tears.

"Are we going to be okay?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," she sniffed. "Just don't make any big decisions without me."

"I won't," he smiled as she started the car.

And then his stomach dropped.

"Uh, Sara?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"If you had to pick one, would you rather the lab know about us, or would you rather go on a date with Hodges?"

She looked at him, confused. "What?" she smiled, as if he were telling a joke. "What are you talking about?"

"Just…answer the question, dear."

"I, uh…the lab. I'd rather they know. What are you --"

"Okay. That's good."

Sara shook her head, still confused. "Why?"

"Remember that I'm still learning the language."

"Okay…"

"And that I love you and my heart is always in the right place."

"Right…"

Grissom sucked in a breath. "Hodges wanted to date you so I told him we were seeing each other."

Sara stopped short at the red light in front of her. "What?"

"You just need to keep the idea of dating Hodges in your head, and the lab knowing doesn't seem so bad," he supplied.

"I don't want to think about dating Hodges."

"I don't either," Grissom said earnestly, "but he started talking about it, and…I had to say something. He has feelings for you. Shallow feelings, to be sure, but…I wanted to nip them in the bud."

Sara sighed tiredly. "You have a lot of learning to do."

"I know that."

"You should've just let what he said roll off your back. You should've kept your mouth shut. It's not like I would've said yes if he asked me out."

"I know," Grissom said, sinking in his chair. "I know."

"Besides, I don't think Hodges would want to date a pregnant woman."

"A _what!?!?!_"

Sara burst out laughing. "Oh, you should see the look on your face. We're even."

THE END


End file.
